Ukrainian news media reported December 21 that the country's national security service has banned the leader of the U.S. rock band Limp Bizkit from entering the country for five years.

The Ukrainian security service told Interfax and the online publication Apostrof December 21 that it had banned Fred Durst, the founder of the group and its lead singer, from entering Ukraine for five years starting in November, "in the interests of guaranteeing the security of our state."

Durst in October had told TASS and Interfax that he would be happy to have a Russian passport and a "pretty little house" in Crimea, the Black Sea region annexed by Russia in 2014. His wife, Kseniya Beryazina, was born in Crimea.

He also expressed an interest in performing in Donetsk, a city held by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously banned French actor Gerard Depardieu and American actor Steven Seagal for expressing support for the Russian government and its policies in Ukraine.